The robotic pet, such as Sony's Aibo, has become a popular form of entertainment and companionship for people who cannot keep real pets.

Mobile Suit Gundam, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979, is a popular anime series that helped to popularize the mecha genre of anime, which features giant robots.

Japan has a tradition of wrapping gifts in cloth called furoshiki, which can be reused and is more environmentally friendly.